Jim Carrey Says Trump 'Can't Take Away' Americans' Innocence

The 'Kidding' actor explained his political art, made faces and described his collaboration with Michel Gondry during a recent appearance on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!'

Jim Carrey mixed up characteristically wacky jokes with moments of deep seriousness about the state of the U.S. during his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday night (Sept. 6). After being introduced in a skit lampooning dockless scooters like Bird and Lime — Carrey disrupted Brett Kavanagh's Supreme Court confirmation hearing on an "out of order" vehicle — the Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind actor sat down in Kimmel's guest seat and explained some of his political artwork.

Carrey's Twitter feed is populated by drawings and paintings related to issues of the day: a recent work shows Colin Kaepernick on a bended knee, while another portrays the late Ariz. senator John McCain. Carrey told Kimmel that he started drawing figures of authority in one "hip" teacher's class: "I was at the back of the classroom drawing pictures of her getting attacked and missiled ... I hadn't learned how to be correct yet," he said. The teacher saved the pictures, he learned later, and sent them back after he became famous.

"She saw the divine spark, Jimmy!" Carrey joked.

Carrey also spent some time messing up his hair and making faces during the appearance. After one commercial break, he returned in a helmet. "I prefer this to the hair formation that's happening," he explained to the audience.

Joking aside, Carrey got down to business when Kimmel asked him to explain the premise of Kidding, his upcoming show on Showtime about a Mr. Rogers-like children's television host, Mr. Pickles, who loses a child and begins to spiral out of control. "The show is about a beautiful human being with a huge heart that everyone's trying to protect. And lightning hits his life. And everyone's afraid he's going to [fall apart]," Carrey explained.

The actor then connected the qualities of the character to a broader opportunity for candor in 2018. "Mr Rogers would come out on a show like this and he would be so absolutely authentic that you can't find the irony," he said. "We're really reminding people that we're all innocent. We have it. We haven't lost it. Trump can't take it away from us. It will always be there," Carrey said.

Kidding sees Carrey reunite with his Eternal Sunshine director Michel Gondry, who directs the episodes from creator-writer Dave Holstein. When Kimmel asked Carrey what appeals to him in Gondry's directing style, Carrey responded, "He's a mad scientist, he's a true artist. He looks at something and says, 'What if it's upside down?'" To illustrate, Carrey remembered that when he asked why his Eternal Sunshine character had lost a leg in a flashback sequence on set, Gondry told him that the missing leg signified that memories are always incomplete.

"Plus, we're lovers," Carrey joked of his connection with Gondry.

"That's a bombshell," Kimmel retorted drily.

Kimmel later asked Carrey if he was a social person, to which the actor responded that he spent a lot of time on his own but he loves people. "What are you getting at?" Carrey asked. Carrey then took an interest in a mark on Kimmel's desk, which he said he thought might be a place to put a microphone. Kimmel responded that it was a mark reminding him where to place objects in view of the camera. "You are so different than every other talk show," Carrey exclaimed. "This space says it all!"